Lengua y derecho a la educación en la Comunidad Autónoma del País Vasco : reflexiones jurídicas sobre el tránsito hacia un nuevo modelo

The article analyzes the legal regime of Euskara in the education system of the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country (capv). In the capv, the legislation recognizes the right to choose the language of study during the educational cycle. The students are separated into different classrooms based on their language preference. This system of separation (of language models) has made it possible to make great strides, although its implementation also suggests aspects which, from the perspective of a pluralistic Basque society on its way towards greater social, political and language integration, call for further reflection The general model for language planning in the capv was fashioned in the eighties as a model characterized by the guarantee of spaces of language freedom, and the educational system was charged with making the learning of the region’s autochthonous language more widespread. At this point, we already have a fair degree of evidence on which to base an analysis of the system of language models and we are in a position to conclude that perhaps the educational system was given too heavy a burden. Official studies on language performance of Basque schoolchildren show (in a way that is now fully verified) that not all the students who finish their mandatory period of schooling achieve the level of knowledge of Euskara required by the regulations. When faced with this reality, it becomes necessary for us to articulate some alternative to the current configuration of the system of language models, one that will make it possible in the future to have a Basque society that is linguistically more integrated, thereby avoiding having the knowledge or lack of knowledge of one of the official languages become a language barrier between two communities. Many sides have urged a reconsideration of the system of language models. The Basque Parliament itself has requested the Department of Education to design a new system. This article analyzes the legal foundations on which the current system is built and explores the potential avenues for legal cooperation that would make it possible to move towards a new system aimed at guaranteeing higher rates of bilingualism. The system would be sufficiently flexible so as to be able to respond to and accommodate the different sociolinguistic realities of the region.

Régimen jurídico de las lenguas y reconocimiento de la diversidad lingüística en el Tratado por el que se establece una Constitución para Europa

The territory of the European Union is made up of a rich and wide-ranging universe of languages, which is not circumscribed to the «State languages». The existence of multilingualism is one of Europe’s defining characteristics and it should remain so in the constantly evolving model of Europe’s political structure. Nonetheless, until now, the official use of languages has been limited to the «State languages» and has been based on a concept of state monolingualism that has led to a first level of hierarchization among the languages of Europe. This has affected the very concept of European language diversity. The draft of the treaty establishing a European Constitution contains various language-related references that can be grouped in two major categories: on the one hand, those references having to do the constitutional status of languages, and on the other, those regarding the recognition of European language diversity. Both issues are dealt with in this article. In analyzing the legal regime governing languages set forth in the draft of the constitutional treaty, we note that the draft is not based on the concept of the official status of languages. The language regulation contained in the draft of the constitutional treaty is limited in character. The constitutional language regime is based on the concept of Constitutional languages but the official status of languages is not governed by this rule. The European Constitution merely enunciates rights governing language use for European citizens vis-à-vis the languages of the Constitution and refers the regulation of the official status of languages to the Council, which is empowered to set and modify that status by unanimous decision. Because of its broad scope, this constitutes a regulatory reservation. In the final phase of the negotiation process a second level of constitutional recognition of languages would be introduced, linked to those that are official languages in the member states (Catalan, Basque, Galician, etc.). These languages, however, would be excluded from the right to petition; they would constitute a tertium genus, an intermediate category between the lan guages benefiting from the language rights recognized under the Constitution and those other languages for which no status is recognized in the European institutional context. The legal functionality of this second, intermediate category will depend on the development of standards, i.e., it will depend on the entrée provided such languages in future reforms of the institutional language regime. In a later section, the article reflects on European Union language policy with regard to regional or minority languages, concluding that the Union has not acted in accordance with defined language policy guidelines when it has been confronted, in the exercise of its powers, with regional or minority languages (or domestic legislation having to do with language demands). The Court of Justice has endeavoured to resolve on a case by case basis the conflicts raised between community freedoms and the normative measures that protect languages. Thus, using case law, the Court has set certain language boundaries for community freedoms. The article concludes by reflecting on the legal scope of the recognition of European language diversity referred to in Article II-82 of the European Constitution and the possible measures to implement the precept that might constitute the definition of a true European language policy on regional or minority languages. Such a policy has yet to be defined.

Apuntes jurídicos sobre el paisaje lingüístico en Euskal Herria

This paper is a study of place-names and signs in the Basque Country from the point of view of language law. These are matters that relate to both the status and corpus of language and contribute to the formation of the language landscape,» After a brief historical introduction, the author focuses on the factors that bear on signs and the language 1andscape: the cornpetence factor and the language factor. The description of the latter leads the author to a discussion of the existing language system, in which the Spanish and Basque sharing official status does not necessarily entail the obligation to use both languages at the same time. Using this discussion as a frame of reference, the au- thor analyses place-names, traffic signals and signs. As for place-names, the existing rules are deemed rigid and lacking in ambition, in that they do not pursue the dissemination of official Basque forms. In traffic signaIs, Basque has to appear alongside Spanish, which is required by Spanish legislation, although this bilingualism excludes place-names that have an official Basque form only. With regard to signs, the author analyses public premises, companies licensed to provide public services and the private sector. For public premises there is no specific regulation, but the status of Basque as an autochthonous language, together with the identification and informatíon purposes of signs, could support the exclusive use of this language, According to the author , companies licensed to provide public services should observe the same language system as the goverment and therefore promote the use of Basque. Finally, in the private sector, the author upholds the legitimacy of measures to promote Basque language use such as tax allowances and exemptions in advertising and commercial signs.

Relaciones comerciales entre puertos franceses y guipuzcoanos en las décadas finales del siglo XVI y la primera mitad del siglo XVII: síntoma de vitalidad económica

[ES]El presente trabajo presenta una fuente documental infrautilizada, la de los libros de manifestaciones, que representa un interesantísimo instrumento de estudio para el conocimiento de la realidad comercial e industrial de la Guipúzcoa de los siglos XVI y XVII. Esta documentación permite matizar algunas de las afirmaciones que durante décadas han venido marcando la historiografía vasca sobre la tan manida “crisis del siglo XVII”, más en consonancia con los criterios que en los últimos años se vienen imponiendo en los ámbitos español y europeo. Las relaciones comerciales con puertos, principalmente franceses, que se pueden seguir a través de las mencionadas fuentes permiten seguir los fluidos intercambios y las llegadas de cereales y bastimentos, así como la salida de hierro y moneda desde algunos de los principales puertos guipuzcoanos. Una de las principales conclusiones es que la exportación de hierro a los puertos franceses tuvo continuidad a fines del siglo XVI y principios del siglo XVII

Transformaciones económicas en el sector costero guipuzcoano central durante el siglo XVII

[ES]El presente artículo pretende analizar cómo se desarrolló en el sector costero central de Guipúzcoa (Orio, Zarauz y Guetaria) la llamada «crisis del XVII» y qué mecanismos arbitraron sus habitantes para sobreponerse a las dificultades. En realidad, se trata de analizar y descubrir qué mecanismos utilizaron para llevar a cabo la reconversión y transformación de sus actividades. En el mencionado ámbito tres fueron las principales actividades económicas relacionadas con el mar: el comercio, la construcción naval y la pesca. Las tres actividades tuvieron que llevar a cabo una serie de reestructuraciones y amoldarse continuamente a lo cambiante de la realidad económica de la época a fin de perdurar y sobrevivir.

¿con qué deporte escolar sueñan las familias?

[ES]En este artículo se recogen las opiniones de las familias de tres centros escolares (Azkue ikastola de Lekeitio, Betiko ikastola de Leioa y Seber Altube ikastola de Gernika), pertenecientes a la Federación de Ikastolas de Bizkaia (FIB/BIE). Las opiniones recogidas están relacionadas con una manera propia de entender el deporte escolar, que se va a ver materializada en la expresión de sus sueños. Estas opiniones han sido recogidas por los coordinadores de los centros, a través de los debates que se desarrollaban en losgrupos de discusión convocados al efecto con diferentes audiencias (escolares, familias, monitores, profesores y direcciones de los centros). El proceso de investigación seguido en el seminario se centra en procesos de interpelación, interrogación, contrastación y redefinición, por lo que se ajusta a un estudio cualitativo que se centra en la construcción conjunta del conocimiento (Pérez Gómez,1994, Imbernon, 1994).